Frozen- 5th Birthday Celebration

Hello Ladies! 

Wow, I can't believe my baby girl is not five years old!! Where has the time gone?  I remember when she was attached to my hip all the time.. wait, she still is! :) 

This year my daughter is fascinated with the movie "Frozen", and her favorite character is Elsa.  When the time came to pick a theme in order to get ready for her big 5th Birthday Bash, I knew she was going to make me work.  But nothing could have prepared me for the ordeal I was about to face.  

After visiting Party City, Michael's and Walmart on several occasions, I realized that I was not going to be able to buy anything in store since all decorations were sold out.  

I was able to obtain the following items on Partycity.com; 

Since I couldn't find much online either, (all items were out of stock), I had to come up with different ideas as to how to bring her "Frozen" Theme party to life, and here is what I did to do just that.

THE INVITATIONS: 

Unfortunately, the blank "Frozen" invitations were sold out in store as well as online but I was able to find the above invitation on Etsy.com. Once I contacted the seller and provided her with all the required information, I had the file in my inbox within an hour.  

I no longer have a color printer otherwise, I would have saved even more, therefore I had to send the file to OfficeMax to be printed.  

If you have a color printer at home, then you will be saving about $10.00 to $15.00 depending on how many invitations you need.   

THE DECORATIONS

The above pictures shows what our table looked like before the party started. 

You will need the following: 

1. Opa Opalessence Table Cover which can be found at Party City;

"Opalessence table covers have iridescent fibers which give them a lively rainbow-like glow. This tablecover features a predominantly white color with this same glow, is 2-ply (1 plastic and 1 paper), and measures 54" x 108" (about 40.5 square feet)."

Our Sparkling Mountains

1. Four (4) different sizes of Cone Shape Foams; I purchased these from Michael's.  

I used two large and two mediums. (Below is a picture of some of the sizes you can use)

2. Two (2) Glitter Roll Wrapping paper, I also purchased the rolls from Michael's;

3. Glue Gun; regular tape does not work on this type of paper.

Our Candy Dishes:

I used four serving bowls for our candies.  Rock Candies were such a hit last year that I decided to have them again.  The fact that the Rock Candy Sticks have a ball handle, which makes them easier for little hands to grab and the sugar crystals look like glistening gemstones gave the perfect touch.  

1 Caribbean Small Swirl Plastic Bowl (about 5.5 inches) with small White Gumballs; 

1 Clear Medium Flared Bowl with medium size Caribbean Gumballs;

For the rock candy I used the following

2 Clear large flared cylinders (7.6 inches tall); 
2 Glowing sticks;
1 Pack of Caribbean Blue Decorative Gems;
1 Pack of Clear Decorative Gems; 
1 Pack of 8 Caribbean Blue Rock Candy Sticks; and
1 Pack of 8 White Rock Candy Sticks;

 Place the Caribbean Blue and Clear Decorative Gems at the bottom of the bowls;

    

      

insert one glowing stick in the center then place the Rock Candies in dish.  

 

THE BACKGROUND

I used my son's blue curtains to cover the curtains that I currently have in my dinning room and carefully taped the Snowflakes strings from the top (slightly behind the curtain rod) in order to create a "snowing scenery".

  

     I could have used so more hanging snowflakes bu my Husband thought that was enough.  

OLAF

Olaf, the singing and twirling snowman was given to Ms. Bree as a Christmas Gift.  Olaf can say different sayings including his famous quote "Some people are worth melting for"! I thought it would be a great idea for him to be part of my main table as a decoration and have him sing while the kids worked on the activities.  

 The snowflakes I used to decorate the "cake stand" were actually Christmas Decorations Ms Bree picked to decorate Christmas Tree. 
 They worked perfectly and I didn't have rush to find them because I had left them on Ms Bree's dresser.  

THE BANNER

I must say that I WAS disappointed when I open the package containing the Birthday Banner.  Last year's banner was at least 7 feet tall and it cover the entire entry way to my dining room!  

This banner was extremely small and I had to make last minute adjustments in order to make my foyer look a little more full.  Overall, it was okay but they could have done a better job with the banner.

 THE CAKE

The cake was another story.  I had told myself I was not going to bake her cake this year but when I went to Publix to order it, they didn't have it. Apparently they don't have a license to produce it and I couldn't find it anywhere else.  

So, my dear husband helped and suggested that I do a winter cake and use her dolls!!  After that the wheels in my brain were turning day and night.  

If you follow my posts you know that I have a very large Christmas Village, which includes "TREES", the very trees you see on the cake!  

Elsa, Ana and Olaf came in a set that her daddy had given Ms Bree for as a Christmas Gift... see how Christmas saved the day! 

It was a very simple cake but I think it did the job!  

THE ACTIVITIES

"MAKING OLAF"

 To make the Olafs you will need the following: 

1 Bag of Large Marshmallows;
2 Snack Size Bag of Carrots;
1 box of flat toothpicks
1 tube of Black Sparkling Gel (use to decorate cookies, cupcakes, etc.)

Note: cutting the baby carrots in smaller pieces are easier to use, unless the children was a "big carrot nose".  

FACE PAINTING EVENT

The face painting was done by Ms. Alyson, she is a local artist and has been part of some of the most popular events. 

She has done the kids' face painting on several occasions and her amazing painting abilities convinced me that she was the best person to have at our party.  

"Spider Man"

"Butterfly"

"A Princess"

THE GIFTS

I normally would wrap her gifts in "princess" theme wrapping paper, unfortunately, I could not find any "Frozen" wrapping paper.  

In order to match the theme, I used the following: 

1 Caribbean Blue wrapping paper ($3.99) that I found at Party City;

2 Curling Ribbons (one in white and one in baby blue) 

Flowers (2.99 for a pack of 12) and flower shape gems (3.40 for a bag of 100 pieces)I found at Michael's;

 Ms. Bree was truly happy not to only have her friends be part of her birthday celebration, but Grandmother and Papa were also there. 

I had a lot of fun making all the decorations from scratch, although physically I was exhausted, my heart was full of joy because all the children had fun from beginning to end, Ms. Bree was very happy with every single thing, from the silver balloons to the simple cake Mommy made for her.   

At the end, she was tired but happy, refusing to remove her face painting, she told her daddy 

"Just hold me daddy, I love you but I'm tired" 

Regardless to what the result is, children are always aware of how hard we (the parents) work to bring their dreams to reality and they truly appreciate our efforts.

THE END

Black History Month: Fighting Quietly

By Bill Cunnigham

Hello Readers:

 

In the wake of Black History Month, it is not only important that we discuss the prominent African Americans but also the “unknown’ African Americans that have helped paved the way for others to succeed today, like Retired Lieutenant John White who was one of the first black Police Officers on the Savannah Police Department. 

By caring that heavy burden of being one of the first African Americans, Lieutenant John White, who was one of the “First Nine Black Officers” to be employed by the Savannah Police Department in 1947.  HIS ACT AND STRUGGLES paved the way for so many other blacks both male and female.

 During an interview in February 17, 2010, with Savannah Morning News, “Lt. White reflected on his days patrolling a city where the color of one’s skin dictated what level of justice one would apply”.

(photo by Savannah Morning News)

In Atlanta, Georgia, Claude Dixon, one of the first eight black police officers appointed to serve in 1948 said, “When we took our oath, all of us had to stand up there and say, -“I do solemnly swear as nigger policemen that I will uphold the segregation laws of the City of Atlanta.”

(photo by unknown)

Said statement was countered by Former Police Chief Herbert Jenkins of Atlanta, who stated the following: “Black police officers were not required to take an oath any different from that of the white officers”. 

However, did you know that black police officers throughout the country were not allowed to arrest white no matter what crime thy committed?  The officers had to hold the white criminal until a white officer arrived to make the arrest. This continued until the 1960s.  Savannah is one of the oldest black community and through the hardships of slavery, “Jim Crow Laws” and the fight for civil rights, “colored people” as they referred as at that time, founded their own churches, schools and communities in the City of Savannah. 

As I mentioned above, Lt. White is one of the original nine officers hired by the Savannah Georgia Police department, and is now the last surviving member of the “Original Nine” who still resides in the City of Savannah.  I’ve had the pleasure of meeting him and the opportunity to talk with him about his experiences on the Police Department   Lt. White explained to me that when he was hired, he was trained in secret, once the training was completed and he was sworn, it was stipulated that the black officers were forbidden to arrest any white criminals. 

He further explained the hardships he encountered as a black officer in this city during the 1950s.  He recalled the fact that all white officers had patrol vehicles while the black officers had to walk even during the cold winter. 

Lt. White shared with me a particular experience when two white police officers had to give him a ride to headquarters and once he was out of the vehicle, the vehicle was taken to have the inside of it cleaned out because he had been in it.  The gut wrenching feeling he experienced at that particular moment cannot be described, He said, these were officers he knew, officers he worked with and smiled at him, laughed and joked with him but felt he was dirty and not fit to sit in back of their patrol car, merely because of the color of his skin.

(photo by Savannah Morning News)

In spite of everything, Lt. White remained strong, continuously fought battles of discrimination and racism.  During the Civil Rights Movement, he often found himself arresting the very people who were fighting for the civil rights of every African American to include him.  As he explained to me, it was one of the hardest things he had to do, but he also realized that it was his job to treat those protesters with the up most respect and kindness. 

His retirement brought on commendations from Senators and President Ronald Reagan in 1984. When SGT. White retired he was promoted to from Sergeant to Lieutenant. 

Is it better now in law enforcement because of Lt. White’s actions?  YES, it sure is, but there is still much work to be done to eradicate the stench of discrimination that has pledged our country and continues to diminish the quality of life and even end the life of so many good people, like the young Trayvon Martin, who could have been a future doctor with the cure for cancer, another black president, or another astronaut. (the key word here is ANOTHER)

With the election of our first black President, we have seen the resurrection of racial hate groups to indicate that racism is far from dead.  However, there are plenty of African Americans who have achieved because of their hard work, dedication, determination and their willingness to never back down and fight the fight. 

Whenever I talk to my seven year old son and my five year old daughter about the contributions of their people, I cannot only mention the famous and most celebrated African Americans but I also the ones who are not so famous like Lt. John White or my wife’s mentor and friend, Judge Tammy Cox Stokes, who was the first African American Woman to be appointed as Recorder’s Court Judge in Chatham County.

We take our hat off, bow our heads and have a minute of silence in to remember those famous activists that pave the way for future African Americans but let us not forget those that suffered alone in silence. Those who were not cheered for by the thousands but who paid the price, sometimes with their life, so their children and grandchildren could have a better life.  So If you are blessed with someone like Lt. White in your community, which there are at least one in every community, take the time to honor them in your local paper, radio, and/or T.V. but most of all honor them with your work and when you see them, tell them thank you for a Job well down.  

"The Original Nine: Pioneers of Law Enforcement"

Lt John White;Retired Officer Alexander Bryant, Jr.;
Howard Davis;
Milton Hall;
Stepney Houston;
Frank Mullino;
James Nealey;
Leroy Wilson.

Small Business Spotlight: FoxyMango

Small Business Spotlight: 

Hello Readers and welcome to another Small Business Spotlight, today we are spending some time with Cheryl!  Her online store is growing and is now offering a lot of things that I think we will enjoy....

Hello Cheryl and thank you for sitting with us to talk about your new and improve online store.  It has been a while since we had our one on one interview when you first opened the store.  (to read Cheryl's first Spotlight you can click here: Small Business Spotlight: Strands & Company) Now, What can you tell us about it, why the changes?

Hi Elena! We’re very excited about the new shop site. Our shop has been open since May 2013 and near the end of the year, we had several months under our belt to see what shop areas our guests were most interested in, what areas were hard to navigate, etc. We redesigned the site in December to re-categorize our products for easier shopping and to better showcase new products and hot movers that sell out fast. We also have a new section “About Our Brands” which tells our guests a bit about the brands on our site and their story. We support a number of small brands that may be relatively unknown and I think it’s nice for guests to know who/where the products are coming from and that there are some really wonderful makers behind these brands, who are truly interested in providing healthy and safe-ingredient products to the public.

Somethings have not changed, like your fast and low $3.99 flat rate shipping, your offer of free shipping for all orders over $49.00 and my favorite.. "Free Samples".  We all have to admit we do love to get some free samples!

   

When we started the shop, our goal was to provide natural, organic, and safe-ingredient products that were affordable (everything in the shop is under $35) and accessible. That included offering a low, flat shipping rate so there was no guessing what the shipping rate would be and no surprise costs in your cart when you go to check out. And it included offering free samples – where you don’t have to buy anything else to get samples – because we wanted guests to be able to try items before they commit to a full-size purchase. While we don’t have samples for every item, we have a selection of about 40 samples that will let guests experience many of the quality brands we offer.

The one thing we couldn't help noticing is the new "Foxy Reward Program" you are now offering, can you tell us what the program is all about?  (i.e. how to enroll, how to accrue points and what can we do with points accrued); 

The Foxy Rewards program is a great way for our guests to accumulate points towards free products! It is easy to participate – a FoxyMango shopper simply has to have an account with us and they are automatically enrolled. Guests can get an account by signing up on our website or signing up when they place an order. Guests earn 10 points for every dollar they spend and there is also the opportunity to earn more points if they refer a friend to our shop and their friend places an order. Currently, we have four products that guests can get for free by redeeming their earned points – Nourish Organic Wild Berries Lotion, Brown Butter Beauty Facial Mask, Shea Terra Organics Hair Masque, and S.W. Basics Body Scrub. When a guest is ready to redeem points, they simply go into their Rewards account area and select the reward they would like. Our system will send a coupon code that can then be used in our shopping cart to get the desired item for free.

You have added some great products to your already amazing store, let's talk about the "Au Naturale Cosmetics" you have now available and what made you add them to your store?

Over the months, we’ve had requests for natural make-up and so I’ve been keeping my eye out for a brand that we could bring in to start off our make-up collection. During my research for brands, I came across Au Naturale Cosmetics and I also saw them featured on Organic Beauty Talk. I liked their story, their philanthropic giving (they support an educational program in Zambia with a percentage of their sales), the positive reviews about the products, the product price-point is affordable and on par with other natural make-up brands, and they offer a range of color selections for foundation. While we don’t carry their full line yet, I wanted to be sure to partner with a brand that offers a range of shades for women of color because that can be difficult to find in current natural make-up brands.

I understand make-up can be hard to purchase online and no matter how many swatches are out there, everyone’s skin tone is different so it’s a bit of trial and (hopefully not too much) error. We’ll see how the make-up does in our shop and grow the selection as our guests want to see more options.

Besides adding cosmetics to your store, what other new items is your store now offering? 

We have a new deodorant brand, Schmidt’s, which we’re really excited about. My husband and I have put this deodorant to the test and it really works great for us! Keeps us dry and smell-free all day and we find it performs just as well as any conventional deodorant – all without the harmful aluminum.

We also have a new Juniper scent of spray deodorant from Blissoma – another brand we like using.

Additionally, we have new items that expand our offering from two of our popular brands, Orange Thyme and Soultanicals. 

Now, I will take the moment to say that I've experienced the Soultanicals For Goodness Aches Bath Salts (Soultanicals Bath Salts) and I have no words to express how good my body felt after that bath!

We have new soap and perfume oil scents from Orange Thyme, and we have new hair care items on the way from Soultanicals (should be in stock the week of 2/3 at the latest).

For the future, we are researching more natural hair care brands – including brands from the UK, we will continue to expand our Soultanicals collection, and we’re researching nail polish to add to our cosmetics.

Overall, we continue to try our best to bring safe-ingredient beauty options to our guests. Sometimes people are curious why we don’t carry some popular natural brands – particularly in hair care. We’re not product ingredient experts and we’re always learning and researching but we have a philosophy of caution. We check ingredients against a variety of databases including referring to European standards which are much more strict and cautionary than in the U.S. While our high standards may limit the selection of brands we can offer, we feel great about the brands we support and we know we didn’t compromise our mission of offering safe, effective, affordable beauty options.

Wow!!  Cheryl's online store has a lot to offer and one of the many reasons we love her is because she offers the best natural products.  

Foxy Mango has a sale going on:  Foxy Mango's Valentine Day Sale- now through February 7th! Makes sure yourself or someone close to you....

To be part of our Small Business Spotlight, please contact us at caramelcurlznswirls@yahoo.com

A Santa for Everyone

Hello dear readers... I know all of you are used to reading my wife's post about hair and this is the first time I contribute to her precious baby and feel honored that she'd asked me to this.  

Christmas is very important to us, especially to my wife.  My wife never celebrated Christmas as a child.  Well, let me rephrase that, her mother did what she thought was right and celebrated Christmas the only way she could due to her lack of funds and stability. 

My wife was told at a very young age that Santa Claus was not real, just like the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy.   She was further told that her cousins were receiving gifts, but the person bringing gifts at night was in fact their father, (Elena's uncle).  I'm sure that her mother found it imperative to made this revelation to the children because she had no resources to buy Christmas gifts for them.  

Seeing my wife celebrate Christmas for the last seven years, it has made me realize she is trying her best to give our children the best childhood memories she can which is something she was unable to experience as a child.   

Like any married couple, we discuss everything that involves our children. We came to a decision and put it into to play.  What I admire most about her is her determination to keep my family's traditions alive as well as start our own so that our children may share them with their children one day.

Some have asked- Why do you have a Black Santa?  

The decision to write about this came before Megyn Kelly, a Fox News host stated during her show that "Santa is White".  You can read about it here: Fox News host Megyn Kelly "Santa is white’ comments, calls critics ‘humorless"

This is my memory of days before Christmas.  When I was a child I could not wait for Thanksgiving Dinner to be over with.  Mainly because I knew the very next day it was time to put up our Christmas decorations. 

Every year my father and I would hang a big picture of Santa Claus over our front door.  I am sure some of you will remember and relate to that very notion.  There was a particular year when my father placed a new picture covering the door, well, at least I thought it was new, I didn't say much at that time other than to state the obvious, "that's not Santa Claus!, Santa Claus is white".

As any inquisitive child, I looked closely to the picture and realized it was the very same cover we had used on past years, the difference was, someone had "colored" Santa's face a nice rich coffee brown. 

My father didn't give a long explanation, in fact, he didn't respond to my statement at all. He just granted me a quick glance and continue to decorate.  I was about six or seven years old at that time, and yes, my Wife will probably tell you that is the time when Moses parted the red sea, but don't let her fool you. I can assure you I'm not that old.

Either way, that was quiet some time ago but I can recall this conversation very well.  After my father, sisters and I finished decorating our Christmas tree, it was time for a well deserved cup of hot chocolate.  As we sat drinking our chocolate and watching TV, our parents decided to joined us.  After the TV show ended, my dad asked me, "Bill, tell me what do you think of the black Santa on the door?" I responded: "It's kind of funny because everyone knows Santa is white", my dad continued by asking "Oh, really, is that what you think?"

My father was not upset by any means. He continued to tell me that he had spoken and seen Santa and that he was in fact "black".  He then proceeded to ask, "Bill have you ever seen any white man bring presents over to our house, ever? The only persons you see here are black right?" 

I had to agree to that, during Easters, Birthdays or during any other holidays, the only people that brought us any type of goodies were black.  My father was never mean, that was never his style.  What he did explained to me was that Santa Claus takes on the color of the people he is delivering presents to. (i.e. Black, White, Hispanic, Asian, etc.)  Well, that kind of made perfect sense to me.

For the next few years after we would put out our Santa Clauses that had been "painted" black.  But one year, my father came home with a new box, it had a new Santa in it, and when we opened the box, I could only smile!! The new Santa Claus was black!, not painted by my parents but one that was created to be black and sold at stores! My first thought was "how cool is that!!"  

Now, as a father it is important that my children know that although white Santa Claus is highly advertised. Santa Claus comes in every color, it just depends on who he is delivering presents to.

In our house, I am black, my wife is Hispanic and our children know they are the perfect mix.  They are perfect because they are a combination of mommy and daddy, and they have the best of our two worlds.  A combination of our hair down to every feature on their face. 

As my father instilled in me, just because a black Santa Claus is not highly advertised and not often seen, it doesn’t mean he does not exist.   Our children get to see that fat jolly guy who brings toys to all the good boys and girls as someone who looks like him.   Though my son may not know this now, but one day he will help the jolly fat black guy deliver toys to his very own children.

I believe that having something or someone good that the looks like the children makes it easier for them to relate to and bring a sense of pride and gives them a positive self image of themselves and people who look like them.  After all, different races make up this wonderful world that we live in. 

So, to all, have a Merry Christmas and to all a good night!

CONTEST WINNER

Good Morning everyone... 

Here is the winner of our:

Thank you for those who participated and for sharing the things you are most thankful for.  

Now, drum roll please... 

MONICA GONZALES!!!! 

* CONGRATULATIONS *

Thank you for your entry and for sharing the things you are most thankful for.  

To see Monica's entry and all of the entries, you can click on:

 "Things-im-most-thankful-for-contest".  

To claim your $50.00 prize, please inbox me your paypal address !